Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)

Director:

J. Lee Thompson

Writers:

Paul Dehn (written by)
Pierre Boulle (characters)

Release Date:

30 June 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

All new! The revolt of the apes. The most awesome spectacle in the annals of science fiction!

Plot:

In a futuristic world that has embraced ape slavery, Caesar, the son of the late simians Cornelius and Zira, surfaces after almost twenty years of hiding out from the authorities, and prepares for a slave revolt against humanity.

Plot Keywords:

Ape | Future | Rebellion | Revolution | Slavery

Cast

Roddy McDowall	...	Caesar
Don Murray	...	Breck
Natalie Trundy	...	Lisa
Hari Rhodes	...	MacDonald
Severn Darden	...	Kolp
Lou Wagner	...	Busboy
John Randolph	...	Commission Chairman
Asa Maynor	...	Mrs. Riley
H.M. Wynant	...	Hoskyns (as H. M. Wynant)
David Chow	...	Aldo
Buck Kartalian	...	Frank - Gorilla
John Dennis	...	Policeman
Paul Comi	...	2nd Policeman
Gordon Jump	...	Auctioneer
Dick Spangler	...	Announcer

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

West Germany:16 (nf) | Brazil:12 | UK:12 (video re-rating) (2003) | UK:15 (video rating) | UK:AA (original rating) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | Finland:K-18 (DVD rating) | Canada:PG (Canadian Home Video rating) | Germany:12 (re-rating) | Australia:M | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Avenue of the Stars, Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The fourth of five Planet of the Apes movies starring Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Throughout the film, the supposedly wireless telephones are simply standard telephones with the wires removed and the wire outlets taped over. This is most noticeable when Mr. McDonald is talking on a red phone and the tape color does not match.

Quotes:

MacDonald: Caesar... Caesar! This is not how it was meant to be.
Caesar: In your view or mine?
MacDonald: Violence prolongs hate, hate prolongs violence. By what right are you spilling blood?
Caesar: By the slave's right to punish his persecutor.
MacDonald: I, a decedent of slaves am asking you to show humanity.
Caesar: But, I was not born human.
MacDonald: I know. The child of the evolved apes.
Caesar: Whose children shall rule the earth.
MacDonald: For better or for worse?
Caesar: Do you think it could be worse?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Watchmen/Shuttle/12 (#1.2)" (2009)

One of the few perfect tens I've ever given.

On a scale of one to ten, this is one of the few perfect tens I've ever given.

Roddy McDowell returns to the Planet of the Apes franchise as Caesar, known in the previous film, albeit briefly, as Milo, newborn son of Zira and Cornelius.

This is the apocalyptic tale of the slavery that eventually leads to man's final end.

The cruelty in this film is so harsh, so harshly real. This film was returned again and again from the censors. They refused to release it without cuts. The cuts were made and yet still this film feels to me to be one of the most harshly realistic films I've ever seen. I pride myself on my inability to be shocked. Yet this film struck right through all the layers of protection my life has wrapped me in.

The riot scenes were so stunningly authentic. One needs not change much to find oneself staring at our own violent past. Let us hope that it will not be, as some have feared, our future as well.

It inspired me.

In a very Shakespearean way.

The reconditioning camps... the men dressed like soldiers of the Reich... the cruelty... the electrocutions... the conspiracies of men in power...

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes was made with a very limited budget. Caesar's prosthetics works were the only high grade appliances in the film. But it works very much with what it had. And it has a finely crafted story. Several steps removed from the rampant idealism of Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Conquest deals with the rage that was bound to result from those events. This is a most important metaphor. A most important film.

If all films were made with such unrestrained passion, with such verve, we would all be better off.

Also it was interesting to me to watch this film because I as able to see inspiration and how it works between peers. Recently I had the oppurtunity to read George Romero's first draft to Day of the Dead -DRASTICLY different from the project that culminated. There were many scenes of the undead legions separated into units, red overalls and green overalls, learning different skills. Being taught. Very similar in every respect to the ape conditioning sequences in this film.

In the end, Romero's film works better WITHOUT those sequences, but still it is quite interesting to be able to see from whence some ideas spring.

Digression aside, this is a very potent film. One that teaches us, if allowed, much about our humanity.

Excellent reprisal performance by Ricardo Montalban. Performance by Roddy McDowell of such a high calibre that it makes up for his relative absence in the previous feature.

Wonderfully adept script by Paul Dehn. Visionary direction by J. Lee Thompson, known for his excellence in his field. Thompson has also been responsible for such highly regarded films as the original Cape Fear and The Guns of the Navarone.

I wish there were more films like this, more films that just go balls to the wall and are so unabashedly free. This movie is not afraid to be what it is. It makes no apologies for the violence it's heroes are forced to resort to. Nor should it. Sometimes bad things happen. And sometimes good men must take to arms to stop the bad men from taking over.

I fear, knowing the result. Knowing the new regime is no better than it's predecessor. The true fear of any freedom fighter.

This will be a film that I watch over and over and over again.